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HOLYOKE – As a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Mayor Alex B. Morse said he is expected to do things like sign on to letters to the U.S. Congress opposing legislation the group says would weaken controls.

“It’s all about public safety,” Morse said in his City Hall office Monday.

Morse, who took office Jan. 3, officially joined the group Feb. 2 after having been approached by representatives in recent visits to Washington, D.C., he said.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino founded the group in 2006. The group works to “keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people while supporting the 2nd Amendment,” said its website, maig.org

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Alex Morse

The group said it has been a leader in the fight to mandate background checks for all gun sales, including those at gun shows, to limit the flow of illegal guns into cities and the crimes that result.
More than 30,000 gun deaths occur in America each year, nearly 12,000 of which are homicides, said maig.org, citing statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Not everyone sees benefits in the work of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The National Rifle Association said on its website – nra.org – people should guard against being deceived by the group’s “harmless-sounding name.” Instead, the NRA said, the group’s target is law-abiding gun owners.
Morse is the second Western Massachusetts mayor, after Springfield’s Domenic J. Sarno, to join, said maig.org
Police Chief James M. Neiswanger said in a press release from Morse he supports Mayors Against Illegal Guns.